Stockholm - The Swedish government is prepared to allow more culling of wolves and introduce hunting licenses to avert inbreeding, Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said Friday. Carlgren said the current wolf population of some 220 animals needs to be renewed, citing that genetic defects like heart and kidney problems that threaten the long-term viability of the wolf population.
"We have a very inbred wolf population which shows increasing signs of genetic disease," he told reporters at a presentation of a coming proposal to parliament.
The government will continue to allow wolves to immigrate from Russia, Finland or the Baltic region, and could even consider importing wolves.
The Swedish wolf population was threatened by extinction in the 1970s when there were three wolves. The current population numbers some 220 individuals, and many can be traced to those three wolves.
"Sweden has had one of the highest growth rates of wolves in Europe," Carlgren said, noting an annual growth of 15 per cent some years.
The government was to maintain its current national level of 200 wolves and from this winter allow licences for hunting, mainly of animals with deficiencies, he said.
Provisions for protective culling of animals that attack reindeer, sheep or cattle would remain.
In its proposal, the government said it wanted to allow local interests in areas with large populations of predatory animals to have a greater say over hunting.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency would keep its supervisory role to uphold national levels of predatory animals.
Groups that would be invited to take part in the culling decisions included the reindeer herding Sami minority, hunting associations, farmers and conservation groups.
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation was critical of the the proposal.
"This is a populistic proposal aimed at satisfying small groups of voters," the conservation society's president Mikael Karlsson said.
Karlsson said the decision lacked scientific backing.
Carlgren described the Swedish policy on predators as "a success," citing an increase in the number of bears, wolves, wolverines, lynx and golden eagles in recent years.
The government had earlier set a target of some 1,000 bears which now numbers some 3,000 bears, he said.
The number of lynx would temporarily be reduced from 1,500 to 1,250 animals, Carlgren said.
